3 takeaways as White Sox blank Blue Jays 3-0 to complete a 3-game sweep

LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune on Apr 5, 2026

Published in Baseball

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CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox improved to 3-0 at home for the first time since 2004 with Sunday’s 3-0 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays in front of 22,325 at Rate Field.

The Sox completed their first three-game home sweep of Toronto since Sept. 1-3, 1995. According to Stats Perform, it’s the first time the Sox (4-5) have swept the previous season’s American League champions since Sept. 4-6, 2015, at Kansas City.

“We are finding different ways to win,” manager Will Venable said. “Everyone on the roster has to contribute. I think this weekend was a really good example of how important that is, to have contributions across the board.”

Here are three takeaways from Rate Field:

‘Outstanding’ Davis Martin follows the lead of his teammates

Venable used the word “outstanding” to describe starter Davis Martin’s outing on Sunday.

The right-hander allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two in six innings as the Sox posted their first shutout of 2026. It was the first quality start by a Sox pitcher this season.

“He did a great job,” Venable said. “Ahead of the count all day. Maintained the count leverage. We talk about strikes and the importance of it, and really with all of our guys today we saw how effective that could be.”

Martin wanted to follow the lead his teammates established earlier in the series.

“Sean (Burke) kind of set the tone for that and (opener Grant Taylor), first game (on Friday),” Martin said. “Kind of showed that we have a really good game plan going into this week and if we execute that game plan and continue to apply pressure, we’re going to put ourselves in a really good spot.”

The Blue Jays had six hits Sunday. Sox pitchers held Toronto to a .188 average (19 for 101) in the series.

Sox get a boost with three two-out RBIs

Miguel Vargas worked a full count with a runner on third and two outs in the first inning. He got a fastball over the plate and hit a liner to center that skipped past Daulton Varsho for an RBI triple.

It was the first of three two-out RBIs on Sunday for the Sox.

Munetaka Murakami scored on a two-out double to left field by Lenyn Sosa in the third inning. One inning later, Austin Hays knocked in Luisangel Acuña with a two-out single to right field.

“It’s huge,” Venable said of the two-out hits. “Just continue to grind, put good at-bats together. I think today was an example of each guy just not trying to do too much, kind of taking what the opposition was giving us.

“Just continue to battle and good things can happen even with two outs.”

Vargas made contributions throughout the series. He scored twice on Friday, including the game-tying run in the 10th inning of the 5-4 victory. He had two hits, two walks and scored twice in Saturday’s 6-3 win. And he was 1 for 4 with the tone-setting RBI triple on Sunday.

Tanner Murray showcases steady defense in his major-league debut

Tanner Murray said he “couldn’t ask for anything better” on Sunday.

The Sox called the infielder up from Triple-A Charlotte, and he went 0 for 2 in his major-league debut while displaying strong defense at shortstop.

“We know he’s a plus defender out there,” Venable said. “It’s one of the reasons he’s here. Really nice job and a great day for Tanner.”

Murray made a great play in the third inning, ranging far on the second-base side of the bag to field an Addison Barger grounder with the bases loaded. Murray spun and fired to first in time to get Barger for the final out.

“I almost fell over when I got it,” Murray said. “I turned around and saw hundreds of faces and I was like, ‘(first baseman Murakami’s) got me somewhere over there.’ I threw it to him, he made the play and we got out of the inning.”

Murray joined the Sox as the team placed outfielder Everson Pereira on the 10-day injured list with a left ankle sprain. Pereira’s IL stint is retroactive to Thursday. He last played on Wednesday, exiting soon after fouling a ball off his ankle in the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins. Pereira had rolled the ankle jumping into the right-field wall while trying to go after a fly ball during the March 30 game in Miami.

“He just wasn’t making a ton of progress,” Venable said. “He was working really hard with his rehab. We weren’t seeing enough progression as far as his health goes to be comfortable putting him out there. Just give him some time to recover and get back out there after his rehab stint whenever that might be.”

The Sox acquired Pereira and Murray in a November trade, sending pitchers Yoendrys Gomez and Steven Wilson to the Tampa Bay Rays. Murray, 26, has a .275/.331/.437 career slash line with 43 home runs and 236 RBIs in 419 games during six minor-league seasons in the Rays (2021-25) and Sox (2026) organizations.

“Any way I can help the team, I’m here for it,” Murray said.

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